I’m a noodle and siopao person. Ask my husband who has to put up with my delivery orders whenever I fail at my kitchen duties. A good thing Rolly Fernandez is a beef and mami person, too. Otherwise, he’d starve, or fast, for a day. Pianist Najib Ismail, a certified foodie (just take a look...
Tag: food
Post
Experience Sorsogon one delicious bite at a time
Sorsogon at the southernmost tip of the Bicol Peninsula usually draws local and foreign tourists to its coastal fringes. Among the top seaside destinations are Donsol and its whale sharks, Paguriran Island in Sorsogon City, Subic beaches in Matnog, and the surfing hubs in Gubat. But there’s an alternative experience that visitors shouldn’t miss: a...
Post
Where I ate all my veggies
Barangay Poblacion in Makati City has acquired a reputation as great for exploring a variety of food and drinks. I wasn’t about to be left behind when members of one of my Viber groups decided to try out Corner Tree Café at 5782 Felipe Street in Poblacion for its vegetarian fare. My Grab sedan dropped...
Post
Gaita Forés’ first birthday in eternity gives us a Cibo kind of love
My good friend and fellow freelance writer Alma Cruz Miclat knew I was in Manila (down from my base in Baguio City) for just a week and insisted on a long ladies’ dinner on a Sunday at Cibo (second level of the original Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City). The name “Cibo,” meaning “food” in Italian,...
Post
Lessons on the beloved potato (or how it fits quite nicely in Filipino cuisine)
Think of a few of your typical savory Filipino dishes—adobo, menudo, kaldereta, nilaga, maybe even kare-kare or sinigang. You can easily imagine all of them incorporating that ubiquitous and beloved brown-skinned vegetable. “I don’t think you will grow up or get to this age in the Philippines without having potatoes, because we love our potatoes,” Reji Retugal, Philippine representative of...
Post
Lola Mameng and my kitchen prep
Not everyone cooks. But those who don’t cook and take pride in the inability should be ashamed of themselves. Not being able to cook is surprising, given how popular culinary courses are now and even just how dime-a-dozen cooking shows are crowding television and the internet. In fact, the food and beverage industry is among...
Post
Once upon a Christmas potluck
BAGUIO CITY—My husband Rolly Fernandez and I have been extremely choosy about which gatherings to attend during this holiday season. Our antisocial streak has been heightened ever since we retired. We just like to hang out at home with our furry golden Satchi. This last Sunday was the exemption because the invitation to lunch felt...
Post
Gastronomy book brings Ilonggo cuisine to the world
Iloilo City, long known for its rich culinary heritage, was declared a Creative City for Gastronomy by Unesco (or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) on Oct. 31, 2023. To further promote Ilonggo cuisine worldwide, the city launched a book, “Gastronomic Expressions of Our City, Iloilo: Nature, Culture, and Geography,” last Dec. 14 at the...
Post
The American potato’s 7,000-mile adventure
First, you put all the dry ingredients in a big stainless bowl—200 grams of standard potato granules, 250g of all-purpose flour, and 3g of salt. Once they’re incorporated, you can form a well in the center for the wet ingredients—four eggs, 200 milliliters of water. Mix until everything coagulates into a stiff dough. You massage...
Post
Over a hot stove: ‘Ube halaya’ and love’s labors
I was born into a transnational extended family. My father, the eldest among his siblings, married before his brother (younger by only a year), was drafted into the US Navy. As a consequence, slowly, the brother and his parents and seven other siblings eventually came to live in the United States. We, the family of...